Singing Revolution

The Singing Revolution was the period between 1987 and 1991, during which the Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia gained their independence from the Soviet Union. A wave of popular discontent with the USSR began in 1987 following Mikhail Gorbachev's glasnost reforms, which allowed for greater political freedoms and, therefore, increased political consciousness among nationalists in the various republics of the declining USSR. On 16 November 1989, the Estonian SSR touched off the secession of the Baltic states by declaring state sovereignty, followed by the Lithuanian SSR on 8 May 1989 and the Latvian SSR on 28 July. On 11 January 1990, 300,000 demonstrators in Lithuania held a pro-independence rally. Exactly two months later, Lithuania declared independence from the USSR with an act "re-establishing the state of Lithuania". On 15 March, the USSR announced that the Lithuanian declaration of independence was invalid. On 18 March, however, Estonia held its first free elections and, on 30 March, Estonia declared that Soviet rule had been illegal since 1940, and declared a transition period for full independence. On 4 May 1990, Latvia declared its independence from the USSR. Four days later, Estonia restored the formal name of the country ("the Republic of Estonia") as well as the coat of arms, the flag, and the anthem. On 13 January 1991, Soviet Army troops stormed Vilnius to stop Lithuanian independence, and the Soviet invasion became known as the "January Events". Concurrently, the Popular Front of Latvia set up barricades in the streets of Latvia and sang Latvian songs, leading to the Baltic revolutions being nicknamed "the Singing Revolution". Nevertheless, on 3 March 1991, voters in Estonia and Lithuania voted more than 3-to-1 in favor of independence from the USSR in independence referendums. On 31 July, Soviet OMON policemen killed seven Lithuanian customs officials in Medininkai in the most serious of the OMON assaults on Lithuanian border posts.

In August 1991, the "August Coup" against Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev by CPSU hardliners enabled the Baltic states to press their claims on independence. On 20 August, Estonia restored its independence from the USSR, with Latvia doing so on 21 August 1991. On 29 August 1991, Russian president Boris Yeltsin banned and dissolved the CPSU. On 2 September, the United States recognized the independence of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, proceeding to reopen its embassies in the countries. At long last, the Baltic states were now free from Soviet occupation.